You
By Sean Patrick Murphy

 

You
inhale the night
all stars
and celestial ether

You
exhale
the stellar remains
and rearrange
every fixture
in the firmament

You are
exist
as skin
on skin
and redeem my flesh
with a whisper

You dig
inside me
to find
a carnal answer
a singular prophecy
in the entrails’ riddle

Beyond the smoke
of the city
the boredom
of the suburbs
the sad and quiet
country
you breathe

Lips together
Yours and mine
I feel you are my compass
always true

The fragrance
of your company
stays with me
in the long hours
we are apart

It is not possible
that you are the dream
for you live
vibrant and awake
during all my hours

You are the goddess
who allows my fingers
to swim along your flesh
unburdened by
clothes or time

In the sanctuary
of your mind
you grant amnesty
to my tortured soul

You shimmer
in sunlight
among the garden
of all there is

Speak to me
in the car
on the train
in the air
your words
surround me
like the rind
of a fruit

You are
everything
to be revealed
or concealed
and shape me
with gentle ministration

You
beneath me
above me
and by my side
know that
in any atmosphere
on any shore
or on an unforgiving
rock
you hold
my redemption
like a ribbon
tied around
your wrist

 
Sean Patrick Murphy is a 1988 graduate of Bennington College. He is a consulting editor at Current History magazine, and the assistant online editor for the Foreign Policy Association. He has had two poems published by Concrete Wolf. He can be reached at lojano[at]attbi.com.

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